Customer Reviews

States' Rights and American Federalism: A Documentary History (Primary Documents in American History and Contemporary Issues)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

~States' Rights and American Federalism: A Documentary History~ is a compilation of primary source documents from the early years of the republic to the antebellum days leading up to the Civil War to the twentieth-century when states' rights whithered and national power swelled. It gives the reader context on the doctrine of states' rights and its continued relevance in this day and age. The book is troubled by commentary biased too much into the nationalist persuasion, in my humble opinion.

Federalist #28 declared, "It may safely be received as an axiom in our political system, that the State governments will, in all possible contingencies, afford complete security against invasions of the public liberty by the national authority. Projects of usurpation cannot be masked under pretenses so likely to escape the penetration of select bodies of men, as of the people at large. The legislatures will have better means of information. They can discover the danger at a distance; and possessing all the organs of civil power, and the confidence of the people, they can at once adopt a regular plan of opposition, in which they can combine all the resources of the community. They can readily communicate with each other in the different States, and unite their common forces for the protection of their common liberty." Here we have states' rights doctrine as it was distilled in the Tenth Amendment, which came as afterthought in 1791 to secure the Constitution against loose construction. The federal government was one of enumerated powers, and the states possessed the vast residuary powers not delegated. In the contests over the scope of federal power, states' rights doctrine keyed prominently into the great political contests and debates of American history.

A very well-organized book concerning the battle between states and the federal government. With well-chosen excerpts of the most important historical documents and unbiased analysis, this book succeeds in providing a detailed history of the origins of the conflict. Perfect for debate or as a history book supplement, this book capitulates an omniscient understanding for this particular issue, common in the entire series.